A Secret Surrender - Darcy Burke Page 0,10
than ever, Harry Sheffield was a very important person.
He was also intriguing, and she found herself liking him.
“I look forward to seeing you Saturday,” she said.
“I will do the same. Expect the invitation tomorrow. I’ll speak with my parents now. I hope your sister is improved.”
“Thank you, I’m sure she is.”
He bowed and closed the door, then walked to the front of the hack, presumably to give her direction to the driver.
Selina arrived at her small rented house on Queen Anne Street a short while later. Her mind raced with thoughts and plans as she let herself in the front door. The housekeeper was almost certainly preparing dinner just now.
After removing her hat and gloves and setting them on a narrow table, Selina walked past the stairs to the small sitting room where she and Beatrix spent most of their time.
Beatrix looked up from the newspaper she was reading, her light hazel eyes fixing on Selina and then narrowing slightly. “What’s wrong?”
Of course Beatrix would see the turmoil inside Selina. Though they weren’t related by blood at all, they were as close as true sisters and had been for over fifteen years. “Tomorrow, we will receive an invitation to a soiree given by the Earl of Aylesbury.”
Beatrix’s eyes widened, and her lips parted in surprise. “Sheffield’s father?” She knew everything Selina did about the Bow Street Runner. Except for the peculiar way he made Selina feel.
“I ran into him on Mount Street just now.”
“He didn’t suspect why you were there?”
Selina went to the hearth. “Not at all.”
“That’s good news, which means you aren’t telling me what’s wrong. I can see something is troubling you.”
Of course she could. They were as good as sisters, having met at Mrs. Goodwin’s Ladies’ Seminary when Selina was thirteen and Beatrix just ten. Beatrix’s mother had recently died and her father had sent her to the school without even telling her in person. That her father was a duke and Beatrix a bastard hadn’t ever mattered to Beatrix—until she’d arrived at the seminary, where the other girls had made sure it had mattered. Selina had taken Beatrix under her wing, and they’d formed a bond that persisted.
Pivoting, Selina walked to the door that led out to the small enclosed garden. She stared outside for a moment before turning to face Beatrix, who waited patiently with the newspaper resting on her lap.
“I know who started the fire in Saffron Hill.” The words slid from Selina’s lips on a throaty rasp.
Beatrix stood abruptly, the newspaper falling to the floor unheeded. “How? Who?”
“A man called the Vicar. It’s a crime Sheffield wasn’t able to solve.”
Selina’s body quivered as much as when he’d told her about this at Gunter’s. “Sheffield wasn’t able to catch him, and he—the Vicar—is still out there, lending money in Blackfriars.” She spat the last out on a hiss.
“We’ll find him,” Beatrix said with cold certainty.
“Yes, and when I do, he’ll pay for killing my brother.”
Beatrix came to Selina and took her hand in a fierce grip. “We’ll go to Blackfriars tomorrow.”
“He lends money from St. Dunstan-in-the-West,” Selina said coldly, her rage buried beneath a myriad of other emotions she fought to keep hidden: grief, regret, despair. “We’ll start there.”
“What will you do when we find him?”
Selina blinked and looked into Beatrix’s familiar eyes, felt the warmth of her support and love in the grip of her hand. Loosening her shoulders, Selina forced herself to relax. “I don’t know yet.” Whatever she did, she’d have to do it under the nose of a Bow Street Runner who was both scrutinizing Selina as Madame Sybila and desperate to catch the Vicar.
“Come, let’s decide what to wear for your first major Society event on Saturday evening,” Selina said with more enthusiasm than she felt.
Beatrix pivoted toward the door, but cast a sidelong glance toward Selina. “Don’t put on an act for me. I know you’ll be preoccupied with finding the Vicar until it’s done.”
“Yes, but I won’t let it take away from our objective. We’re so close—the Earl of Aylesbury is incredibly well connected. You’ll be presented to the Duke of Ramsgate in no time, and he’ll see what he’s missed all these years after abandoning you at Mrs. Goodwin’s.”
Eyes narrowing with purpose, Beatrix held her head high. “It seems we’re both going to get what we want very soon.”
No, Selina would never get what she wanted—a reunion with her beloved brother, the boy who’d kept her safe for years on the streets of London after they’d